


weightless

by CheerUpLovely



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 05:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18986071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheerUpLovely/pseuds/CheerUpLovely
Summary: “How are you doing?”Felicity weighs the question up for a moment before she answers.She should be irritated. She should be bored and desperate and angry at being in this situation for the third time in her life, but she’s not, and it’s a little disconcerting to realize that this is nothing more than a small blip in their radar now rather than a massive, monumental life change.





	weightless

**Author's Note:**

> alexiablackbriar13 said: prompt: felicity has to get her chip replaced due to wear and tear but they cant activate the new one for a couple of days due to different neural software so oliver has to carry her around for essentially a week
> 
> For Ash, who misses wheelchair felicity

“How are you doing?”

 

Felicity weighs the question up for a moment before she answers.

 

She  _ should  _ be irritated. She should be bored and desperate and angry at being in this situation for the third time in her life, but she’s not, and it’s a little disconcerting to realize that this is nothing more than a small blip in their radar now rather than a massive, monumental life change.

 

“Restless,” she settles with a small huff as she stretches to adjust the blanket over her legs, “But I’m not in any pain.”

 

She flashes her attentive husband a smile of assurance, but he’s still her same Oliver Queen who never fully believed that the first time around, and his brow still furrows slightly as he leans over the back of the couch, tapping his fingers against the fabric. 

 

“Are you sure?” he asks. “The hospital did send us home with painkillers.”

 

“I know, but it’s not so bad,” she insists. “Dull ache, if we have to put words to it.”

 

His head tilts to the side, and she can’t help but reach up to lightly scratch at the scruff on his cheek. “Are you just saying that for my benefit?”

 

“No. Honestly. Scout’s honor.”

 

“You were a boy scout?” he smirks, leaning into the hand on his cheek. “How did you infiltrate that group?”

 

“I’m a master of disguise.”

 

“I don’t doubt that,” he grins, his concern wavering for the moment. “I’m making some tea; do you want some?”

 

“I’d love some.”

 

He drops a kiss on her head before he wanders away to the kitchen, and Felicity leans her head against the back of the couch to watch him as he fusses away with anything he can find to keep his hands busy. While the water boils, he’s tidying away things, moving the items around on the worktop, and she can tell he’s still worried about her even though he has no reason to be. 

It’s easier this time, though, even though some of this is still tainted for him as the first time they were in their home together and she couldn’t use her legs.

 

It’s been on Felicity’s mind for a while, ever since Adrian Chase and his EMP stopped her implant from working, to have it upgraded to try and resist any such unauthorized tampering in future. But then William had come along, and everything had changed, and things had changed a thousand times over. Suddenly, they’d had a quiet month; they’d been in contact with the Legends, who had been more than happy to lend Ray’s attention to her engineering project for a few weeks, and all that had been left for her to do was receive the implant in it’s upgraded form.

 

She’d had her surgery a few days ago, but because of an upgrade to the neural signalling software that Ray had installed (and she was pretty sure it hadn’t come from any present time period) they had to wait a few days to activate it remotely, meaning that she was currently being waltzed around her home in Oliver’s arms at every opportunity while she healed again.

 

Yes, it was difficult. Any moment where she had to be reminded that technically, she was paralyzed, was hard for her to digest. Being able to walk was a blessing that she took for granted sometimes, and these moments where she wasn’t able to simply stretch her legs and adjust her position easily were stark reminders that this could have been her life all along. 

 

“Here you go.”

 

Oliver startled her out of her thoughts, passing her a mug of tea that warmed her inside simply from the comforting aroma. 

 

“Thanks, hon,” she murmured, holding it carefully while he moved around to the front side of the couch and placed his mug down on the side table. With a few moments of maneuvering, he lifted her legs to sit beneath them, before he replaced them over his lap. One hand took his mug while the other fell to her knee. “When’s Will coming home?” she asked.

 

“Zach’s mom is dropping him back at seven, so it’s just us for dinner.”

 

She wondered whether he’d asked Zach’s mom to cover them for dinner, while they were getting settled back at home after the hospital, but she decided not to ask that. “Why don’t we get take-out tonight?” she asked instead.

 

He hummed, stroking his thumb over her knee. She loved that he still did that even when she couldn’t feel it. “You say that every night.”

 

“I know, but I mean it tonight,” she told him. “You’ve been running around with me for days, take-out means you actually get to sit down for a few hours rather than fussing in the kitchen.”

 

Oliver’s thoughtful expression softened into a gentle smile. “I like running around with you.”

 

“Well, this time next week I’ll actually be running again,” she pointed out. “New and improved.”

 

He nodded. “Can you believe they’ve got this down to a few days now?” 

 

“It’s incredible,” Felicity agreed. Compared to her weeks-long hospital stay the first time around, it was much better. Even with the first installation of the microchip, they’d kept her in for a week or observation, uncertain with the technology untested, and this time they’d been far happier to send her home. “With this updated model I shouldn’t need another replacement for at least five years. I had Ray send me the schematics he used. It’s going to be amazing for the mass production.”

 

His hand tapped against her thigh. “Happy investors, happy wife.”

 

“Hmm, I like that rule,” she mused, always enjoying the reminder that she was not only working again but that her company was thriving. Her free hand slid down to meet his, their fingers tangling together. “But I like this more.”

 

“You like being off your feet for a few days?”

 

“Well, no. I don’t like it,” she shrugged. “But sitting here with you, with nowhere else for us to be, just some us time? That I like.”

 

“Good news, I’m all yours tomorrow as well,” he told her.

 

She gave him a single raised eyebrow.  “Tomorrow’s Sunday. I’d be annoyed if you were working.”

 

While his attempts at fixing the city through City Hall itself hadn’t ended well, Oliver had agreed to work along the SCPD as a consultant. It often ended with long, unpredictable hours though, even though he’d not been to work at all while she’d been off her feet, so to speak. 

 

“The opposite in fact. Will’s home all day tomorrow. I’m declaring it a family day.”

 

“Are you now?”

 

“I am,” he nodded. “Attendance compulsory.”

She gave a pointed look at her legs. “In all fairness, I sit wherever you put me at the moment.”

 

“You do have the option of the chair,” he reminded her. “And the apartment is all on one level.”

 

“And miss out on being carried across the threshold several times a day?”

 

He chuckled, letting his head drop to the back of the couch. “There was a time when you kept telling me to be careful.”

 

“And you were careful,” she agreed, with a gentle squeeze of his hand, “And now I don’t have to worry.”

 

“You never have to worry,” he assured her, his tone softening once again. 

 

Even married for a year, he still looked at her like he did in the beginning when he was first trying to show her that she was his entire world. Their world has expanded since then, with the addition of William to their patchwork family, and it didn’t always feel too far off now that it might expand a little further, but he never stopped looking at her like she was the center of his universe. 

 

“All joking aside, I really appreciate all your help the last few days,” Felicity told him quietly. “I know we didn’t plan on going back to this.”

 

“You never have to thank me. Ever,” he insisted. “Not for this.”

 

“No, I do,” she nodded. “Because you being you is the reason that doing this is easy for me.”

 

It was true. She tried to tell herself before that this was about her and her independence, but while that was her biggest motivator, it was Oliver’s support that made it easy to keep getting back every time she had fallen. 

 

“This is always going to be a part of our life,” Oliver acknowledged, tapping their joined hands over her still legs. “Whether that chip allows you to walk or not, this is a part of you, so it’s a part of  _ our  _ life. I know you’d do the same for me.”

 

“I love you,” she whispered, because what more could she say to that?

 

“I love you too.”

 

They leaned forward in unison, closing the gap between them for a kiss until she leaned back with a more teasing smile on her lips. “But I don’t think I can be carrying you around next time your knee gives out.”

 

Oliver laughed. “Felicity, you’ve been carrying me for years.”

 

“We carry each other.”

 

“We’re pretty good at marriage so far,” he observed. 

 

But Felicity winced, tilting her head to the side. “I don’t think we can say that when we didn’t have a honeymoon.”

 

“In my defense, we got married on a whim, while I was a part of ongoing legal action and then when that was resolved we scheduled your replacement surgery.”

 

“We don’t have plans for the start of May.” she pointed out to him, with suggestion lacing her tone. 

 

“Yes, we do,” he stated simply. 

 

“No, we don’t,” she frowned. “The next thing on my calendar is Will’s soccer tournament on the eighth. We’re about to have two weeks with no plans.”

 

“And I made plans for them,” he said nonchalantly. 

 

Felicity’s eyes narrowed as his glinted back at her. “You sneaky man, you booked us a surprise honeymoon, didn’t you?”

 

“I did.”

 

“Where are we going?”

 

“It’s a surprise.”

 

“We’re going to Aruba, aren’t we?”

 

“It’s a...not-so-secret surprise.”

 

“You’re amazing.”

  
“ _ You’re _ amazing. “


End file.
